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European to Watch: Patrick Heckmann

According to European Prospects.com’s Christophe Ney, Michigan head coach John Beilein recently visited German guard Patrick Heckmann. Heckmann is one of the top guards in Germany and is also receiving interest from San Diego and Maryland. He is a 6-foot-6 guard and was born on February 27th, 1992, which would likely make him a member of the class of 2011 but could fall into the class of 2012. He has also reportedly attained a score on his SAT that should allow him to qualify with the NCAA, a hurdle that Robin Benzing missed by one question. He recently agreed to play with TV Langen — the same club that former WVU player Johannes Herber and former Michigan commit Robin Benzing originated from — but did not sign any professional contract, making him eligible to play in college. Here’s a recent interview with Heckmann that ranges a number of issues, including Heckmann’s desire to play college ball. Here are a couple quick video clips including a half court buzzer beater, alley-oop dunk, and a big block (not 100% sure this is him). We’ll have more on Heckmann in the coming days and hours, but for now here are a couple scouting reports.

Despite having some serious ups and downs during the tournament, Patrick Heckmann was one of the rare satisfactions for the German team. Being able to play all positions from 1-3, Heckmann was mostly used as a SF but excelled when playing the PG in the decisive minutes of the game I scouted. He can create out of his drives either for himself or his team mates and his athletic abilities give him the possibility to wait until he decides what he does when attacking the basket. The German player looked also a bit better on the defensive end. He needs to get more consistent in his effort and his new role with the German 3rd league team of TV Langen will certainly help him in this way.

Offensively, his arsenal is however very large as Heckmann can play every position from 1 to 3. His shot release is maybe a bit slow and he is not the most accurate from behind the arc, he excels when he drives to the basket where he can go until the rim but also create for his team mates. His athletic abilities allow him to finish in traffic high of the glass or with good hang-time and his large body helps him to be protected against losing his balance. His nice wingspan gives him possibilities to overcome his lack of lateral speed on defense but he showed his limits in this area during the tournament.

The Michigan paid sites dropped the ball on this one. Stauskas said back in October Coach Beilein was over in Germany but as of last week we had yet to hear anything about that trip, so last week I tipped off Christophe and low and behold Mr. Ney reeled in a whopper.

Major props to Coach Beilein for going the extra mile in recruiting and to Christophe for getting the scoop.

Dylan Burkhardt

Be easy on us reporters ;-) It’s tough to dig up information on kids across the pond. We should hopefully have more later tonight.

sven

Damn I was hoping he was a big.

Dylan Burkhardt

As a 6-6 2011 wing he could be a nice replacement for Pointer… I still think there is a bigger roster void on the wing than down low. You have three bodies at the five, two of which have shown promise and I’m not ready to give up on Blake after his 9th game.

Evan

I agree we definetly need a wing that wants to drive the ball to the basket. Horford has alot of potential and is still building muscle and morgan is looking like a beast down low.

Bluebufoon

I also thought it was going to be a big man. Christophe mentioned Daniel Theis,a 6-8 1/2 low-post player was considering coming to the states and thats who I had my heart set-on.
But nothing wrong with another wing player especially if Horford and Mclimans continue to develop.

Hey guys, I had a chance to watch (and interview) Heckmann during the U18 European Championship in Vilnius, Lithuania. He’s a very atheltic, very explosive player with great finishing around the rim. His two-point accuracy is somewhere around the 60 per cent mark, very good for a wing player. It has to be noted that he collects most of his points driving to the basket. Plays over the rim. However, he lacks the mid-range game and he hasn’t been hitting the three recently, though he is a 30-35% shooter. Anyway, I plan on writing a report on his game some time soon if everything works out time-wise.

I would say these are the type of players we need the most right now. 6-5 to 6-8 guys who are not post guys or wings but athletes.

Zem

Since when has the SAT become pass/fail?

Dylan Burkhardt

Ah, guess that was a little unclear. Passed to the degree that he has a score that should allow him to qualify.

Section13Row15

Dom Pointer would have rounded out our 2011 class so well. I was heartbroken when he chose St. John’s. He is exactly what we are missing. Robin Benzing would’ve been amazing as well.

Bluebufoon

Wow — Heckmann was chosen to play in a German All-Star for Juniors game. This year he has been averaging 28.6 points a game and the leading scorer in the league. Again this is from Europeanprospects.com